So I lied
by berzerkeleyravenclawprefect
Summary: James Potter is trying everything he can to get over Lily Evans, but Lily is just starting to realize that she might actually have feelings for James... Their friends have no intention on giving up on them as a couple either. (Also all character and inspiration creds to the amazing Jo Rowling because I feel like that needed to be said)
1. Prologue

Small lights began floating in the air as the sun set, a dim brightness settling on the patio. Several of the tipsier guests swat at the lights as Sirius Black, best man extraordinaire, rose from the wedding party's table.

Raising his glass, he began, "So… I lied…"

Remus stood abruptly, his chair squealing. "I was actually the initial liar!"

"Me too!" hiccupped Peter as he hastily stood to be included. Unfortunately, he also knocked over the champagne glass of the woman sitting to his right.

Sirius, mildly irritated that his two friends thought it fit to be a part of his moment, interrupted, "Excoooose me! This is _my_ best man speech, and I would prefer it to be uninterrupted."

Lily and James laughed, unsure as to where this speech was going. They knew it couldn't be too awful since Sirius was a softy, but that also meant he could not handle his liquor and many sorts of things tended to spill out whenever he was slightly intoxicated.

"Fine, Sirius, be the drama queen. But please give me the credit I deserve in this story," huffed Remus.

"Yes yes, Moony, will do will do. Now, on to the juicy bit: we, and by 'we' I mean me, Moony — there's your credit, happy? — Wormy, Mar, and Mary, were far from oblivious to Lily and James's burning desire to snog each other in a broom cupboard. In fact, we plotted the _whole thing_." Sirius slid across the dance floor, and with a spin said, "Buckle up children! Reminisce with me."


	2. Chapter 1

_This is ridiculous._

 _I can get over Evans._

 _Just don't think about her hair. Or her eyes. The way they spark when she's angry. How she pushes her hair out of her face as she makes last minute edits to her essays outside the classroom doors because she thought of something else she just has to add. When she rests her head on the table after a long day and watches the candle wax dripping down the side and time seems to slow down. How sometimes her sweater rides up a little on her back and there's a spattering of freckles above her waistline…_

 _No. You are James Fleamont Potter. Time to give up. It's hopeless._

 _Hopeless. Hopeless. Hopeless._

James slammed shut _Moste Potente Potions_ in frustration, earning a glare from Madame Pince. Ignoring her, he let his head slide down from his hand until it banged on the table.

"Shhhh!"

With a sigh, James looked up, glared back at Madame Pince, and noticed Marlene McKinnon, one of his Gryffindor quidditch teammates, enter the library. Spotting James, she gave him a wave and plopped herself down in the seat across from him.

"Are you done with that book? I need to use it for Slughorn's essay. I can't believe he's asked for three feet of parchment on one ingredient! How does studying one component of the Polyjuice Potion have any bearing on our understanding of the entire potion? I mean, I suppose that the presentations will help wi—"

"Mar, you're rambling."

"Oh, sorry! It's just this essay has been driving me insane for the past few of weeks, and now that I've procrastinated it to the final week, I'm freaked. Lily is supposed to come help me if you'd like to stay for a bit."

James started at Lily's name, standing abruptly.

"Nope, I've gotta dash!"

"Wait!" yelled Marlene, immediately realizing her loud mistake as Madame Pince sprang into action in her peripheral vision. Marlene quickly got to work behind a pile of books to appease the strict librarian (and hide from her).

It was odd, thought Marlene, that James had run so quickly before Lily got here. Usually he took advantage of every opportunity to chat up her best friend...

• • •

 _I'm fine. Not freaking out. Should I put on the cloak? Nah, that's a bit overkill, don't you think, James? If I'm going to get over Evans, I have to at least be able to pass her in the corridor like a normal person. Besides, we're heads together, I do it all the time. It's agonizing, yes, but doable. Deep breaths. Maybe walk a little faster…_

James turned the corner and ran up the stairs, fervently praying that he wouldn't run into a particular redhead. Once he was in front of the Fat Lady, he breathed a sigh of relief and dashed through the portrait hole after mumbling the password. Refusing to glance around the common room, he continued up the stairs to the dormitory — failing to ignore the flash of red in the far corner of the room.

James swept into the dorm and ran his finger nervously through his hair. "So… I lied…"

James Potter's two (of three) best friends looked away from their respective tasks — Remus from his Charms paper, and Sirius from staring at the ceiling.

Sirius was the first to respond, "We know, Prongs."

After a beat, Sirius spoke again. "Uh about what, exactly?"

"Evans," said James.

"Oh, right!" laughed Sirius. "Well, you can't just expect us to believe that you've suddenly gotten over Evans."

"But I tried so hard!" cried James. "She despises me. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, you know? I thought I 'matured.' That being Head Boy would give me a chance to prove it to her. But no. She's determined to hate me forever."

James sighed and fell onto his bed, whacking his head on the headboard in the process. Wincing, he turned to his friends. "You've got to help me. Evans is a lost cause and one way or another, it's about time I moved on."

Remus slowly closed his book, nodding, and finally spoke. "So, we need a plan."

"Agreed."

"When's the next Hogsmeade visit?" questioned Remus.

"Next weekend."

Sirius shot a piece a balled-up parchment at James. "Aw what a good head boy, knowing all the Hogsmeade dates, staying on top of his homewo—"

Throwing it back, James glared at Sirius. "Shut it, Snuffles."

"Now now that's not very nice."

"Well, you can shove your snide remarks up your arse."

At that moment, Peter slumped through the door, dropping his book bag. "What are we talking about? New prank?"

"Pffft, I wish. Prongsie here is in the process of getting over Evans," said Sirius, leaning back in his chair with the classic Sirius smirk on his face that James wanted to smack off him.

Peter laughed. "Not possible."

"Oy! Is too! Moony has a plan!" James couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did his friends have no faith in him? He supposed that the past five years of pining after Evans didn't help his case, but he was determined to move on. Hateful banter was one thing, humiliating insults and a vow to date the giant squid before him even if he was the last man on earth was an entirely different thing.

Remus sighed, "All I did was ask when the next Hogsmeade was."

"But you were on to something!"

"It's not exactly a radical idea, mate. Just ask another girl to Hogsmeade. Get used to dating other people and get Lily off your mind."

James nodded thoughtfully and pulled Remus into a hug. "Moony, that's brilliant."

Remus groaned at the unexpected embrace. "Like I said, not a radical idea."

"Well, we know Prongsie isn't the brightest of the bunch. Had a crush on the same girl for the past five years, dontchaknow."

After letting go of Remus, James — noticing how close Sirius's chair was to falling over — decided to give it a little push for all the snide comments.

Sirius's face flashed in horror as he felt himself fall to the floor with a bang. James snorted, Sirius glared. "You're going to regret that, Prongs"

"Hah! Not likely, Padfoot. The look on your face was priceless."

Sirius lunged for James, tackling him to the ground. Neither Remus nor Peter interfered, used to at least one brotherly wrestling match a week. Instead, they sat on Remus's bed and cracked open the Honeydukes hoard, waiting for the spat to end.

After a couple of minutes, Sirius's head popped up. "Fine, Prongs, you win this time, but only because I pity you."

"Wow. How sincere Padfoot." While his voice portrayed annoyance, there was a shine in his eyes as he put his glasses on — he could never hold a grudge against his best mate.

"Wormtail, pass me one of those Honeydukes sweets you've been hoarding. James just broke my back."

Throwing one over to Sirius, Peter took several more for himself and turned to James. "Now back to our original discussion: who are you going to ask?"

"No idea, Wormtail, but James Fleamont Potter is officially on the prowl!"

"Prongs, never ever say that in front of a girl. She will run in the other direction."

James pranced back to the middle of the room after grabbing his own chocolate and pulled Sirius into a headlock. "I beg to differ, Snuffles. Have you seen my good looks?"

Sirius laughed, "Please, they definitely don't even compare to mine."

"Should we take a poll?" challenged James.

Smirking, James released Sirius from the headlock and the two of them faced Remus, still stuffing his face with Chocolate Frogs.

"We already know I'll win, there's no point, right, Moony?" said Sirius.

"Please leave me out of this."

"Mooooonyyyyyyyy."

"Moooonyyyy, you can't back out."

"You are both equally handsome," said Remus as he rolled his eyes. His friends were absolutely ridiculous.

Sirius and James stared at each other with furrowed brows as if a staring contest would determine who was the most eligible bachelor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (if you must know, the female population of Hogwarts was evenly split). After some time, Peter interrupted the staring contest to inquire as to when they would be heading down for dinner, at which point the three other boys realized how hungry they were and set out for the Great Hall immediately.

Swinging his arms around his friends' shoulders, Sirius smiled. "Prongsie, time for you to find the girl of your dreams."


	3. Chapter 2

Lily had spent the entire day holed up in the corner of the Gryffindor common room behind several stacks of books. One month into term and she was already drowning in assignments. Glancing up to survey the common room, she noticed Potter coming through the portrait hole. Since they were Head Boy and Girl and had to work together, they had been much more cordial with each other. She might even call it friendship. Smiling at Potter as he walked in, Lily was surprised when he barely glanced at her and quickly bounded up the steps to the dormitories. Lily ignored the small pit in her stomach and burrowed back into her pile of books.

After a few more hours behind her fort, she dug out her watch to check the time, internally cheered that it was time for dinner, and hastily threw her books in her room before heading down to the Great Hall.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?!" said Marlene Mckinnon as she angrily set down her books.

Lily — startled by her best friend's sudden appearance — looked up from her plate, her mouth full from shoveling mashed potatoes.

"Ermmm, sowrgy Marwene?"

"Merlin, Lily, you were supposed to help me with potions!"

Swallowing her mouthful of potatoes, Lily attempted to remedy the situation. "Marlene, you know you're my bestest friend in the entire world and I would never intentionally inflict pain on you, especially the kind that involves doing potions homework on your own."

Marlene laughed, "It's alright. I suppose it's better that I try to muddle through it. Improves the learning experience, eh?"

"See! Looking on the bright side!"

"Yeah yeah, you're not completely off the hook, mate. Anyways… why aren't we sitting with the boys tonight?"

Lily blushed, taking a couple more bites of potatoes before answering. "Just didn't feel like it."

"Uh huh. Spill," said Marlene.

"Mar, there's nothing to spill. Can't I just enjoy some peace and quiet?"

Attempting to avoid the situation, Lily continued eating, but Marlene snatched Lily's precious, beautiful fork, the vehicle for the food on her plate, earning quite the glare from Lily.

"Hold up there, dementor. All I'm saying is that we've been sitting with them from the start of term, having a grand ol' time now, poof! Suddenly we're sitting _several tables away_. Why?"

"Oh! I know why!" chimed in Alice Longbottom, Lily's other best friend who suddenly appeared next to Marlene. "Lily has a crush on James yet refuses to admit it."

"Shhh!" shouted Lily, glancing quickly in the Marauders' direction before looking back at Alice. "And I do not!"

Alice patted Lily's hand. "Hun, you've been saying his name in your sleep for the past two weeks. Which reminds me, I want to hear all about those juicy dreams at some point."

Lily blushed for a second time, even more red than before. "I—uhh—what?!"

"It's true," said Mary MacDonald, fourth roommate and third beloved friend, as she sat down at the table.

"We didn't want to embarrass you Lils," comforted Marlene.

"So logically you decide to bombard me with this information in the privacy of the _great hall_?!"

"Well… I suppose that wasn't the best idea," admitted Alice. "But Marlene — don't give me that look Mar — brought up the boys and so here we are. Besides, this needs to be dealt with."

Looking up from her majestic mashed potatoes she'd rather be eating than having this conversation, Lily glared at her three friends. "It does not need to be 'dealt with.' I am fine with being single. I have no crush. I am perfectly content with my life."

"Lils, you haven't been shagged since Benjy."

"Irrelevant. I can take care of myself you know."

"Yes, we all can. Doesn't mean it's better than with a boy."

All three girls nodded in agreement, and Lily could not be more mortified. It was hard enough admitting to herself that she liked James, but to find out that her friends knew all along _and_ that she's been saying his name in her sleep was embarrassing beyond belief. How she would ever be able to look James in the eye was beyond her. _That's decided_ , thought Lily. _Avoid him at all costs_.

That goal was short lived as she glanced towards the Marauders, only to find that James was no longer sitting with them. Lily twisted in her seat, looking for him in the hall, finally landing on his tall, lanky, yet nicely toned frame (she knew because she accidentally saw him coming out of the prefects' bathroom in just his pajama bottoms. Luckily he didn't see her as she darted around the corner).

Lily froze.

James was standing by the Ravenclaw table. Talking — no, _flirting_ — with… that Ravenclaw _prefect_ he said he couldn't stand?

Marlene, Alice, and Mary noticed Lily frozen, no longer shoving potatoes into her mouth, and turned to see what she was looking at.

First to speak was Alice.

"That prat."

"I hope his balls turn as saggy as Merlin's," fumed Mary.

"Gross, Mary," interjected Alice.

"I can't believe it," said Marlene. "He moves on just like that? After saying he's liked you for so many years. I mean, I knew he was acting weird in the library today, but jeez. I guess he really is moving on when he was actually so close."

Lily stood up. "Enough. It's fine. I'm fine. Like I said, I never had a crush on him. We're just friends. He can move on; he has every right. Excuse me."

With her fiery red hair flying behind her as she darted around first years in the aisle, Lily swept out of the Great Hall as fast as she could, doing everything she could not to stop and yell at them about safety hazards and improper wand usage and _do you want me to tell McGonagall about this little food fight you're having?_ No, she had to get out because James flirting with Jenna Roydon was too much to handle and as much as she didn't want to be petty, she couldn't help it.

Remus, Sirius, and Peter stared at her shrinking figure, realizing exactly what her retreat meant.

• • •

"No. Way," whispered Sirius.

Peter, his mouth gaping as his eyes followed Lily, finally muttered, "I can't believe it."

" _Evans_ _likes James_ ," said Sirius and Peter in unison.

"I know," stated Remus.

Peter and Sirius turned towards Remus simultaneously.

"Moony, you knew this whole time?" said Peter.

"Possibly."

"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?" shouted Sirius

Remus rolled his eyes — sometimes he couldn't believe how thick his friends could be.

"If I told you, Padfoot, you would shove it in Lily's face 24/7. You, Peter, would become a bumbling fool whenever you were around Lily. And after James catches on to your weird behavior, he would be such a prat about it that Lily might change her mind. _So,_ I figured the best course of action would be to withhold my knowledge of Lily's crush in the hopes that James would attempt to move on, and Lily would finally admit her feelings to herself when she realized she was actually jealous of whatever girl James is seeing."

Remus took a deep breath after his lengthy monologue.

"Oh, Moony, you sneaky little minx! I could kiss you!"

"Please don't."

Sirius leaned towards Remus, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Come here, Moony, just a little peck!"

Laughing, Remus moved as far as possible, only to fall off the bench.

With a wink, Sirius responded, "Don't try to hide it, Moony, you know you want me."

Avoiding eye contact with Sirius, Remus knelt down to grab his things then stood and brushed himself before quickly scribbling on some parchment. "When you want to start acting of age, I'll be at HQ so we can plan our James and Lily scheme."

Whacking Sirius on the head with his exercise book, Remus walked towards Marlene and dropped the scribbled on parchment in her lap.

 _Operation Lames._

 _Our dorm._

 _30 min._

 _All hands on deck._

 _P.S. Bring snacks._


End file.
